More than two-thirds of women in the UK have bad experiences at work because of their periods, a report has found.
In a survey of more than 2,000 women by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 69% said they had a negative experience at work because of their menstruation symptoms.
More than half said they had had to miss work because of their period symptoms, with one in five taking sick leave. Three-fifths said they had worked when they did not feel well enough to.
However, only one in 10 women said their organisation provided support for menstrual health. Nearly half said they never told their manager the absence was related to their menstrual cycle for embarrassment or fear that their symptoms would be trivialised.
For the minority of participants who said they had health conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or endometriosis, the impact was even greater, with 81% saying they had bad experiences at work because of their symptoms.
Puja said she encountered a lack of compassion when she asked her employers for help because of debilitating physical and psychological symptoms due to her PMDD. “I wanted to explore medical leave and mental health support without having to tell my line manager my exact medical condition,” she says. Although there were policies, Puja said she was not eligible for help because she was not a permanent member of staff.
Tanya Simon-Hall said her employer dismissed her symptoms as just being a period, leaving her feeling guilty for missing work.
“I would go to work in excruciating pain just so they would see me and send me home again,” she said. “I was struggling so much, my sick leave turned into unpaid leave and then my contract wasn’t renewed.”
Smith-Hall, who has endometriosis and adenomyosis, now runs her own business, the Adeno Gang, teaching menstrual health workshops for young people. “Companies need to understand the level of pain these conditions cause,” she said. “It’s not just a period.”
Kate Muir, the author of Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause, said it was not only a problem for younger workers. “For women with rollercoaster hormones in perimenopause, there are added problems with periods at work, as timing becomes increasingly unpredictable and periods can be like tsunamis. It’s a huge, unrecognised struggle.”
Caroline Nokes, the chair of the Commons women and equalities select committee, said women had told the committee how they were forced to take days off, were not listened to and basically told to “suck it up”, and that for some women even access to decent toilet facilities was difficult. “It is very obvious that employers have a long way to go on this,” she said.
Janet Lindsay, the chief executive of the charity Wellbeing of Women, which runs the “just a period” campaign, said it was “unacceptable” that menstrual health problems were causing women to suffer at work and some to be forced to quit their jobs.
The CIPD report called on all workplaces to become more empathic and understanding, by tackling stigma and giving managers training about the effects of period symptoms. “Menstruation is a natural part of many employees’ lives, and it shouldn’t be a barrier to success or wellbeing,” said Claire McCartney, the CIPD’s senior resourcing and inclusion adviser.
Clare-Louise Knox, the chief executive of the training provider See Her Thrive, which supports women in the workplace, said supporting menstrual health was not only the right thing to do, but made business sense, too.
“Workplaces championing menstrual health witness lower absenteeism, reduced turnover rates, and higher job satisfaction,” she said.
